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July 14, 2024
Resources and content for this Sunday.
*Call to Worship | Psalm 23:5-6 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God invites and calls us into his presence to worship him.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
*Song of Adoration | The Church’s One Foundation
We begin by responding with praise to God for who he is and for what he does.
The church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one over all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
’Til, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.
Music and Lyrics: Brian Moss, Samuel John Stone
*Confession of Faith | Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch.33 Of the Last Judgment
With the church in history we confess a basic statement of what Christians believe.
3. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin; and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, Amen.
*Song of Confession | Gracious God
Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs are simply prayers that are sung. We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.
Gracious God, great is our sin
But Holy Lord Great is Your love
The burden’s too heavy to carry
The pain is too real to hide
The sin is too deep to undo
Lord hear our cry
Forgive what our lips tremble to name
And take what our hearts can no longer bear
Chorus
Lord grant us grace to be more like you
Through Jesus Christ, the light of the world
Chorus
// Set us free from a past we can’t change
Lord grant us grace
Give us a future where we can be changed
Lord grant us grace //
Gracious God, great is our sin
But Holy Lord Great is Your love
Chorus
The burden’s too heavy to carry
It burns like a fire inside
The judgement is too much to bear
Lord hear our cry
Music and Lyrics: Rivan Bennevendo
Confession of Sin
We fight the temptation to hide our sin and instead acknowledge it openly to God, but we do so in light of the grace offered in Jesus.
Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon | Psalm 23:4 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
The good news of the gospel is that we are forgiven in Jesus Christ. This assurance is based on God’s words of promise and it is therefore certain.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
*Song of Response | My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.
My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.
Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I come to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.
Chorus
My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s Name,
Salvation through His blood.
Chorus
Music and Lyrics: Lidie Hornsby Edmunds
Prayer of Thanksgiving
We offer our gratitude to God in prayer in response to his gifts and blessings to his people and ask that he make us faithful managers of these gifts.
Song of Thanks | He Will Hold Me Fast
As we offer our prayers so we also offer up our thanks in song.
When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.
I could never keep my hold through life’s fearful path;
For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast.
He will hold me fast; He will hold me fast!
For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast!
Those He saves are His delight; Christ will hold me fast.
Precious in His holy sight; He will hold me fast.
He’ll not let my soul be lost, His promises shall last;
Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.
Chorus
For my life He bled and died; Christ will hold me fast.
Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.
Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast;
‘Till our faith is turned to sight, when He comes at last!
/ Chorus /
He began a work in us…
He’ll complete His work in us…
He will hold us fast; He will hold us fast!
For our Savior loves us so, He will hold us fast!
Music and Lyrics: Ada Habershon, Matt Merker
Prayer for Christ’s Church
We lift up our requests to God knowing that he hears us when we pray.
*Reading of Scripture | Amos 8:2-10; 9:7-15 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God reveals himself and his work and speaks to us his people through his Word.
8:2… Then the LORD said to me,
“The end has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”
declares the Lord GOD.
“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
“Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of
Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on every waist
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day…
9:7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians
from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful
kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of
Jacob,”
declares the LORD.
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
11 “In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the LORD who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit
them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the LORD your God.
Pastor: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
The Preaching of the Word | Rev. Blake Arnoult
“Amos, Prophet to the People”
Christ in the Old Testament: Amos
Pastoral Prayer
Sacrament of Communion
Sacraments are visible signs of the invisible grace of God - what Christ does by his Holy Spirit within us. Communion (also called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist), as the distribution of the elements of bread and wine, symbolizes a meal. Communion is a sign of fellowship. That sign signifies more than just the future heavenly fellowship that is to come. The outward sign signifies the inner reality that sinners already experience fellowship with God in the Spirit because of Jesus. Communion is not a meal for good people. It functions as a renewing seal to desperate sinners of that fellowship we have with our holy and gracious God.
You will be invited to come forward. If you are not a Christian we encourage you to spend this time in reflection on what you’ve seen and heard in the worship. Children who have not received their first communion are welcome and encouraged to come forward with their families to witness their partaking. We invite children who are ready to make a public profession of faith in Christ to arrange a meeting with the elders, and thus become “communicants” at the Lord’s Table.
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts!
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Words of Institution
Pastor: Let us proclaim the mystery of the faith:
People: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Hallelujah!
Pastor: Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. Hallelujah!
People: Therefore, let us keep the feast.
Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.
Please let an usher know if it is difficult for you to come forward. We would be happy to serve you at your seat. All communion bread is gluten-free. All communion wine is made from grape juice.
A communion prayer for those searching for the truth:
Lord Jesus, you claim to be the way, the truth and the life. If what you claim is true, please guide me, teach me, and open to me the reality of who you are. Give me the ability to follow you no matter what it might cost me. Give me an understanding for you that is coherent, convincing, and leads to the life that you promise. Amen.
Communion Song | Jesus Paid It All
We celebrate our communion in faith and song.
I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots and melt the heart of stone.
Chorus
And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save" my lips shall still repeat
Chorus
Music and Lyrics: Elvina M. Hall
Departing Song | Blessed Assurance
We begin to end in faith and song.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above,
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Chorus
Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blessed,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with his goodness, lost in his love.
/ Chorus /
Music and Lyrics: Fanny Crosby
*Benediction | Amos 5:24 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God sends us out with his blessing. A benediction is not a prayer. We don’t bow our heads. We lift them up and even lift up our hands to receive his blessing as we are sent out as participants in his mission to the city of man.
24 Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bible Studies
Women’s Evening Study: Thursday, July 18
Our women’s evening study will meet on Thursday, July 18 for our last lesson in our Eschatology series! Join us at the home of Susan Arnoult at 7pm on July 18.
Men’s Morning Study: Friday, August 2
Our men’s study will meet on Friday, August 2 at 7am at Bean and Bottle! 9655 Katy Freeway Suite 100.
Kids and Youth Pool Party
Saturday, July 20, 1:30-3:30pm
All Cornerstone kids, youth, and parents are invited to join us at the West University Colonial Park Pool on July 20 for some fun and fellowship! 4130 Byron, Houston, TX 77005
Adult Teaching Series
Wednesday, July 24, 7pm
Adults are invited to join us Wednesday, July 24 at the home of Neal and Marion Wade for the third lesson in our 3-part adult teaching series this summer!
Fall Kick-Off Party
Sunday, August 25, 11:30am
Join us for our annual Fall Kick-Off Party on August 25! We will gather at Pickleball Social for fun and games, including a pickleball tournament! More details to come!